Of Food and Drink
by Star Trek's Q's girl friend
Summary: How I see Daniel settleing into the palace and getting to eat his own food.


Daniel stood quietly in the line, watching as one of the menacing soldiers checked off the names of the other boys in his line. His mind wandered idly back to his home in Jerusalem, he wondered if he would ever see it again. He could still remember the night the Babylonians had burned it to the ground, the terrified screams as houses burned and children cried.

Suddenly a gruff voice spoke in front of him, "Name?" the man said.

Daniel jumped slightly, "D-Daniel." He replied, looking at the man. He marked it in his notes and looked him over silently.

"Not any more, if you're going to work for the king you will need a Babylonian name, Belteshazzar." He said after assessing Daniel for a moment.

"Yes sir." Daniel responded meekly.

"From now on you shall answer to that name and that name alone, you must also refer to all of the other students by their Babylonian names." The soldier ordered.

Daniel only nodded mutely. The man seemed appeased by this and moved on. Slowly he learned the new names of his three friends, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Finally the man was done; he addressed them all a final time before leaving.

"You have all been given a great privilege," he said, "you will train and study under the finest minds Babylon has to offer. Then the best of you will be given jobs as the king's officials."

With that he left and in his place another man came in. "I will be assigning you rooms in the palace for you to stay in as you complete your studies." He said, "My name is Ashpenaz if you have any problems you come to me. I have the list of the rooming assignments here."As the names were read off Daniel was relieved to learn that he was going to room with Meshach and Shadrach and Abednego were in the room opposite theirs.

Once the official was done reading of the list he again addressed them, "All meals will be provided from the kings table and are the best Babylon has to offer, it is nearing the noon meal now so if you will come with me we can get washed up and eat."

Daniel and his friends lost no time in getting into the lunch hall and sitting down, they waited patiently as the dishes were served, but once they saw the food they looked to each other with dismay, they couldn't eat this.

Ashpenaz looked over at the young men who had come to see him, they seemed nice enough, they had the potential to make good in whatever they chose to do. But the request they made was impossible. He looked at them apologetically, "I'm sorry boys, but I can't do it. If the king finds out that you aren't eating his food he will be extremely upset, he could have my head. Besides, why would you want to be weaker than your peers? They are eating the food and thriving."

Daniel smiled, "If you let us just try it- say for ten days, I can prove to you I know what I'm doing." He said, "If, by that time we are not healthier than all the other young men we will go back to the food prepared of us by the king's household."

Ashpenaz sighed, "Fine, ten days. Plain food, and water to drink." He conceded, "But after that if you are not up to par you all have to go back the same food as everyone else."

Daniel and his friends nodded happily and left. Ashpenaz rubbed his head and went about his business.

Daniel, Shedrach, Meshach, and Abednego had a lot on their plates besides vegetables over the next ten days, trying to get settled in and starting their school work, but the routine got sorted out fairly quickly and life began to take on some semblance of normalcy before the ten days came to a close, Daniel had almost forgotten it when Ashpenaz suddenly seemed to materialize before him on his way to philosophy class.

"Well," he said amiably, "your three friends have passed inspection, how about you?"

Daniel smiled mischievously, "I'm fine, in fact I just won the race in physical education." He said, "But if I don't get to philosophy soon I'm going to have to run even faster to escape the teacher."

Ashpenaz laughed, "Well then I had better not keep you waiting, had I? You and your friends are clearly doing well, if you want to keep to your crazy diet then I won't stand in your way."

Daniel grinned as he rushed off to class, but he knew ten days wasn't enough to actually change anything. God had blessed them in their quest to obey him.


End file.
